A Night Unexpected
by Mae Bee
Summary: An unexpected event happens that Jack and Chloe have to deal with.
1. Chapter 1

A Night, Unexpected

Nervously, she parked her car and walked into the building. Right away, she walked over to Michelle's station and took her aside.

"I made a big mistake." She said, still holding onto Michelle's arm.

"Chloe, what did you do now? Michelle replied, rolling her eyes slightly.

Chloe looked around before turning back and saying "I can't tell you here. Meet me in Tech room 1 in five minutes."

"Chloe, what's going on? Are you alright, are you in trouble?"

"Uh… well, no…sort of… just meet me there." She said walking back to her station, pretending to do something before walking down the hall.

---

Five minutes later, Michelle walked into Tech room 1 and shut the door. She was startled as she turned back to see Chloe right in front of her.

"I slept with Jack." she blurted out.

"What. Really?" Michelle said, somewhat surprised. Chloe stared at her, waiting for her to say something.

"Um, what happened? Have you talked about it with him?"

"I don't know...Well, no, but..." she trailed off a bit, unable to complete her sentence.

"Chloe, you have to talk to him about it."

"I know, but why? It's not like it matters."

"Chloe, Jack likes you. trust me, he wouldn't have done it if he didn't."

"Well, I think he was just drunk and kind of...stressed, I'm sure he wasn't thinking straight. I don't hold it against him, I mean I could have backed off or whatever."

"Chloe, trust me, at least talk to him."

"I would, but... have you seen him? I haven't. Jack! Jack! See, no Jack. I guess I can't tell him." she said scowling at her co-worker.

"Chl-" Michelle was interrupted by the door.

"J-jack." Michelle smiled, leave it to Jack to have perfect timing.

"I heard my name, is everything alright?" he said, with a look of concern on his face.

Chloe looked stunned, at a loss for words.

"Uh, yeah, every thing's fine. We were just going over some protocols, didn't mean to worry you." Michelle said, giving him a small look.

"Protocols? In the Tech room?" he smiled "What are you girls up to?" he said, looking at Chloe.

"We were talking about how madly in love with you I am Jack, how much last night meant to me, how I'm fucking dying without you-god, Jack! Not everything is about you!" Chloe shouted, pushing him out of the way, leaving the room.

"So I guess you know." Jack said, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Yeah." she just left it at that.

Having been late to work, and away the day before, Jack couldn't very well leave to go talk to her, as much as he wanted to.

Instead, he walked up to his office, looking over to Chloe's station. He could see her giving him a glare to end all glares.

---

Not long after, Chloe got a call from Jack, asking her to come see him. Chloe, being the Chloe she was told him to shove it and hung up.

About two minutes after that, Michelle came up to her, looking like she was about to say something important, but instead, just stood there.

"What?" Chloe hissed at her coworker, knowing what she was about to say.

Michelle smiled mischievously "Jack called, he needs the update on the file report, would you take it up to him."

"No. You can do that fine on your own."

"Come on, Chloe, you can't ignore him forever."

"I can try. Besides, why do you care?"

"Chloe, if you don't go up there, I'll tell everyone about the Portland thing."

Chloe scowled "Fine, but I'm not talking to him."

"No...it's not like anything can happen, he's my boss!" Chloe snapped, grabbing the file and walking toward Jack's office.

---

"Here." Chloe said, rolling her eyes as she tossed the file on his desk.

"What's this?" Jack asked, picking up the file.

"What do you mean? It's the file you asked Michelle for." she said, rolling her eyes, turning toward the door.

"Wait, Chloe." He paused, not knowing how to continue his sentence.

"Jack, just leave me alone, okay? Don't worry, I don't blame you for anything or whatever..." with that, she left and went down to Michelle.

---

"Nice." she scowled at her coworker "I don't need your help."

"Than why did you tell me, Chloe?"

"I wasn't thinking. I'm fine now, don't worry." she said, as if Michelle cared.

"I am worried, Chloe. He's probably freaking out just as much as you."

"Which is why we should just forget it."

"No, I mean he's probably worried that he hurt you because you won't talk to him and shut him out every time he's around you."

---

Just then, Milo walked up "Chloe, I need your help with the decryption key..." he stood and waited "Chlo'?"

"Yeah, got it Milo. Be right there." she snapped.

---

"Just think about it." Michelle added as she walked down the hall.

---

"Think about what?" Milo asked, not thinking about who he was talking to. Sure enough, he got her signature glare before leaving his site to her station.

---

"Send me the frames. I'll finish the keys, you work on whatever, okay?" she said

---

After sending her the frames, Milo kept staring at her, which was beginning to annoy her on an already crumby day.

"What do you want, Milo?" she asked, keeping her eyes on the screen.

"What were you and Michelle talking about?" he asked cautiously

Sighing, she looked up from her screen "Milo, what makes you think A, that its any of your business, or B, that I would tell you even if it was?"

"Alright, jeez. I wasn't trying to pry or anything" he bit back.

"Milo, just leave me alone, alright? Here are the keys." she said, handing him the disk.

"Yeah, thanks." he said walking back to his station.

---

Chloe, relieved that he finally left her alone, put her head down for a second to clear her head. Just then, someone tapped her on the shoulder.

"Piss off, Milo." she said, frustrated with the increasingly annoying colleague.

"Well, good morning to you too Chloe."

She snapped her head up "Shit. I'm sorry Tony." she said, blushing slightly.

"Long day?" he asked, "Or long night, maybe?" he added, looking at her.

Rolling her eyes she snapped "Did Jack put you up to this?"

"Jack?" he asked "I haven't seen him yet today, why?" he asked, slightly confused.

Leaning her head on her hand she just said "Was it Michelle, than? I swear, I said it was fine, must she keep on-"

"Chlo', no one told me anything. You just looked like you needed a break." he said with a concerned tone in his voice.

"Oh. Figures, sorry." she said, wanting to drop off the face of the earth at this point.

He smiled "So what is this about my wife keeping on...?" he trailed off.

"Nothing, she's just sort of making something more than it is."

"hmm. You sure that's all?" he asked with a sarcastic tone.

She rolled her eyes with a sigh "Yeah, Tony. I am." she hissed, not wanting to continue with this conversation.

He laughed "I believe you, it's not like you have a history of down playing things..." he smiled "Take care Chloe." he said before walking away.

---

"Shit." she thought "of coarse he was right, god forbid Tony 'Fucking' Almeida be wrong."

She paused her station and reluctantly walked up to Jack's office.

---

"Told you it would work." Michelle said, looking across at Chloe.

"Yeah, 'Chelle, you were right." Tony said, rolling his eyes, grabbing his Cubs mug from Michelle.

---

"Listen, Jack" Chloe started, getting Jack's attention walking into his office "I'm sorry I've fucked things up. I wasn't thinking what would happen and we should just forget it ever happened, okay?" she blurted out, not giving him a chance to respond.

---

Jack waited for a second to make sure that she was done talking- he didn't want her to storm out again. Chloe nervously awaited his response.

---

He looked down through the glass and took a deep breath. "What if I don't want to forget?" he said suddenly.

Chloe looked up at him surprised and confused.

"I mean, if you don't want to, I will, but..." he paused for a second and looked up to Chloe "I don't think you fucked things up, Chloe. If anything it was me..."

---

Chloe opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by Jack. "For the record, I don't want to forget it happened." he added.

---

Chloe stood at the door, stunned for a second "but... but you left." she said still confused.

"I didn't think... I mean, I had to leave to change and shower. I just didn't want to wake you. With how my head felt, I thought you would want to sleep in.  
Plus I wasn't sure what to say, or what you would say. I didn't think starting the day with a hangover with your half-naked boss in your bed was your idea of a good morning." he said with a smile

"I, uh... Fuck, Jack." she sat down in front of his desk. "Why am I so fucked up?" she asked, tucking her head inside her arms on the desk.

---

"Chloe." he said, putting his hand on her shoulder "You're human."

She lifted her head up "I don't act like one! Humans interact in a kind and friendly manner, I can't go 2 seconds with out pissing someone off."

"You've never pissed me off." he said, offering a reassuring smile.

"Yes I have!" she snapped.

"Yeah... but everyone pisses me off." he joked.

"See Jack! I'm incapable of sustaining a friendship, let alone a relationship."

"We're friends... What about Michelle? You like her enough to tell her about what happened."

"I was going crazy, I couldn't think. I fucked things up with her now too, see?" she said anxiously.

"Chlo', I think she understands given the circumstances." he said, in a soft tone.

"Well, I'm still fucked up... I only have like 4 friends and you guys are work friends, except Chase- who might as well be my brother."

"Chloe, do you really think I care about how many friends you have? Look at me, I have more enemies than friends and the people who don't hate me are mostly just afraid of me. Talk about fucked up." he smiled at her.

She smiled back "I guess we're both fucked, eh?" she shrugged.

He leaned in closer to Chloe and whispered "We aren't the only ones, though. Tony, he hits on everything that moves" Chloe laughed "Michelle too, she snorts when she's drunk." they both laughed.

"See Chlo', we're all fucked up." he smiled warmly.

She sighed and smiled "Yeah, I guess."

---

He got up from his chair and sat down beside Chloe and put his arm on the back of her chair. "So...you're madly in love with me?" he said teasingly.

"What?" she said, suddenly feeling sick again.

"In the tech room. You said you were madly in love with me before you stormed out."

"No." she said loudly "I...I was just pissed off."

"Oh... I see." He found and leaned closer to Chloe "What if I told you that I was madly in love with you. "  
"That last night meant so much to me, and how I'm fucking dying with out you, Chloe." he said softly, with a hint of desperation and seriousness.

---

They looked each other in the eyes, both seeing the same sense of vulnerability and lust they saw in each other the night before.

---

Before they could speak, the silence was broken by Milo opening the door.

"Jack..." he stopped "uh, sorry..." he trailed off, losing his train of thought.

"Milo, what is it?" Jack asked, impatiently, trying not to sound too annoyed.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt... we got a lead, we need you both on the floor." he took one last glance around them before turning and leaving.

---

Taking the lead, Chloe got up and headed toward the door.

"Chloe?" Jack called her and she turned "We okay?" he asked.

She smiled and at the same softness as his voice "Yeah" and she walked out the door.

---

"Looks like someone's in a better mood." Michelle said, walking by Chloe's station "Did you talk to him?"

Chloe rolled her eyes "Yeah, Michelle. I did. You happy?"

"I'm happy if you're happy." she smiled.

"Is that why you sent your little goon after me?"

Confused, Michelle replied "Goon? What are you talking about?" she asked.

Rolling her eyes, Chloe gave her a sarcastic smile "Oh come one, you SO talked to Tony, I'm not stupid. I can tell when he's protecting you. I just thought if you were desperate enough to get Tony in on it, I might as well humour you."

Michelle blushed "I'm sorry, I just didn't want to see you that way. I knew you would be okay if you just talked to him."

"Yeah, well...whatever." she said, glancing over at Jack.

"I'll talk to you later, Chloe." she said before parting ways with Chloe, smiling at her reluctant glance back.

---

"Chloe?" Milo asked, creeping up to her station.

"Yeah, Milo? What is it?" here we go again, she thought.

"I just wanted to say sorry for earlier. Something was clearly bothering you and I should have just left you alone." he told her, calmly.

"Yeah, great. Thanks Milo." Chloe said, dismissively.

"God, Chloe! I'm trying to apologize and you just ignore me, what's your problem?" he snapped at her.

"Right now, you are." she snapped back, still refusing to look up from her screen.

He shook his head "I don't even know why I bother." he said, slightly louder, but trailing off.

"Than don't, Milo. Simple as that." she said giving him a sarcastic annoyed smile, hoping he'd take the hint.

"You're such a fucking-" he started yelling and was then cut off by his phone.

---

"Pressman." Chloe watched as Milo talked, wondering if it'd be something she'd have to follow up on. "No, there's no problem." he said "Yes, I understand."

She couldn't make out the voice on the other end, nor what it was saying. "Sorry, wont happen again." followed by a "Alright, Sir. Thanks." he said, hanging up and rolling his eyes, and without looking back at Chloe, he walked to his station like he had

forgotten he was about to call her a bitch, most likely. It surely wouldn't be the first time someone said it.

Still, she couldn't help feeling unsettled. She was glad he went away, but the call was clearly not work related or she would have heard it too.

So why did he just stop? Not wanting to cause another scene, she picked up the phone and dialed Milo's station.

---

"Pressman" he answered.

"What?" Chloe replied.

"What are you talking about? You called me, Chloe."

"I know. You didn't finish, you were saying "I'm such a fucking... what, Milo?" she said angrily.

"Just forget about it, okay?"

"Why? Who was that on the phone?" she demanded.

"It's was Jack, alright? He told me to leave you alone and keep my feelings to myself in the future."

"Oh." she said with a sigh. Of course it was Jack.

"Anything else?" Milo asked.

Chloe rolled her eyes again "No. Bye." she said hanging up.

Milo rolled his eyes and called her a bitch as he hung up the phone.

---

Chloe sighed as she gave up trying to focus on her work and paused her station and headed toward Jack's office once again.

"Bauer..." she said, walking into his office.

"Chloe?" he answered, looking up to her.

"Jack, I appreciate you helping me out there, I do, but I can handle it myself." she said, trying not to sound rude.

"You're welcome, Chloe. But I was simply making sure there weren't any office conflicts going on." he laughed  
"And as much as I would have loved to see you take him on, it just wouldn't be very professional of me... division would be on my ass." he smiled at her.

"Whatever you say, Jack." she rolled her eyes and walked out of his office and made her way to her station to attempt refocusing on the task at hand.

* * *

A/N:

This was written as both a stand alone story and as a prequel to my other story Life, Unexpected. -You can read it as either.

It was originally going to be just a one shot, but I wasn't finished with it. I'll probably have a least one more chapter after this one.

Anyway, I appreciate your comments, positive or negative.

-MaeBee


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

---  
Chloe was once again the second last person working. She had made a habit of working late most nights to avoid run-ins with her new neighbor, who seemed to enjoy picking her life apart and being annoying.

She didn't mind staying late, really. She would probably still be working or at least thinking about working when she got home anyway, and this way she got the odd moment alone with Jack.

Not that she had planned on anything happening, it just felt comfortable to work with him. Even when they just focused on work, she didn't have to dub herself down or play around with social niceties that everyone else was so focused on-she just felt normal for once.

---

The previous night had been different though. They were both forced to stay there and figure out what was wrong. They had been working for hours in his office-stressed out of their minds when they finally cracked it.

They had a drink to celebrate finishing before Jack offered to give her a ride home.

"How will I get back to work if you drive me?" she asked, feeling the tiredness starting to take a hold.

"We'll take your car and I'll take a cab back to my place."

"What about coming into work tomorrow? I can't ask you to take a cab twice, just to give me a ride. Thanks anyway though." she smiled.

"I could stay over." he offered.

Confused, she looked up "Huh?"

"Well, I don't don't want you to drive home in your tired state and that way, we can drive in together in the morning..."

"Um... okay, I guess." she said, handing him her keys.

---

She pretty much slept the whole drive, which wasn't very long. She only lived about half an hour away from CTU, but there were a few side streets on the way to it.

By the time they got to her apartment, her neighbor was standing outside the door, just waiting to say something about Chloe, she knew it.

Low and behold, as soon as they stepped up, Mrs. Leone was there to comment on the less than normal presence of both Chloe and Jack.

---

By the time they finished, Chloe was no longer tired, just pissed. She hated her neighbor, who also apparently hated her. She asked Jack if he wanted a drink while she made herself one to "settle down".

She didn't usually drink, but after today, she felt she deserved it. He agreed and they both had a whiskey and split a can of coke.

---

While they finished their drinks, they begun talking. No subject in particular, just normal chatter for a while, then into family, friends, work... still normal, but more detailed.

After a few more drinks, they started really talking to each other, more personal and more real than either of them were used to talking about to anyone.

---

To lighten the not-so-dim mood, Jack walked over and turned up the radio that was lightly playing in the background.

Chloe gave him a questioning look as she watched him do a little jig over to his seat.

"What?" he asked, stopping in front of her.

"Nothing, just never seen you dance before."

He smiled "Never seen you dance either..."

Her face went blank "I don't dance."

"Oh come on" he said, winking at her.

She shook her head "I'm not nearly drunk enough, Jack-o" she joked

He rolled his eyes and turned up the station when "You're so vain" came on

"Oh you have to! This is our song!" he said smiling.

Chloe looked at him again "We have a song?"

He smiled "We do now... come on, Chlo'!"

She rolled her eyes and got up "Fine, but you're not telling anyone. Got it?"

He raised his arms "Cross thy heart, Ma'am."

---

As they started dancing, Jack pulled Chloe closer to him, taking them both off guard. Chloe froze at first, but then relaxed into him and rested her head on his shoulder.

She was quite tired, or quite drunk-maybe both, but she was sure that she wasn't thinking 100%, or she would be having a panic attack, for sure. Instead, she was calm, relaxed and dancing with JACK BAUER! Her boss...her friend, who was also her boss. Who was incredibly sexy and...

She was about to go into over-examining panic-mode, when Jack started running his fingers thought her hair as they continued dancing slowly and very closely, erasing all previous thoughts from her mind.

He wasn't completely sure what he was doing either, but it felt too right to want to stop. He didn't let himself over think too much about what was going to happen, tonight or otherwise.

The way he figured, he would never get another chance to tell her how he felt with out getting slapped or losing his nerve.

---

With that thought, he held her tighter and lightly rubbed the side of his face against hers and smiled warmly as she looked up. Blushing slightly, Chloe looked away as she returned the smile.

Taking a deep breath, he moved a strand of her hair behind her ear and moved in with a kiss before quickly pulling back, realizing he had actually kissed her. Panicking, he brushed down his shirt before looking at her.

"I'm sorry." he said awkwardly, "I was..I , just...-" he was cut off by Chloe's lips.

Before he could get a thought passed, Chloe noticed his hesitation and moved in closer to him, deepening the kiss. He smiled and kissed her back, slowly leading them to the couch.

He pulled away for a second as Chloe's hand lightly grazed his thigh, "Chloe?" he said as more of a confirmation than a question.

"Shut up, Jack." she answered before kissing him again.

She still wasn't convinced that this was actually happening, but real or not, she didn't want it to stop.

---

As the pace continued to increase, Jack pulled away for a second and signaled down the hall. Getting up, they proceeded to make out as they somewhat slowly made it to the bedroom.

It didn't take long for them to undress after they entered the room, both in a lot of stress and desperation.

Wasting no time, they quickly began feeling each other, before being lost in the moment of sex and desire, that neither of them had faced in so long.

---

And that was that, she woke up and he was gone. Just like that, she felt suddenly like her life was over. Yet again, she had screwed up something that was going good for her. Though it usually didn't involve sex, she had a habit of getting on the wrong side of people, mainly bosses who would then fire her on-in her own opinion, false pretenses.

Yeah, they were technically true, but anyone else would have gotten away with the smallest mistake, but her? No! They just look for a reason to fire her... and now she had done it again. Or so she though...

---

It turned out that he had just gone home to shower and change his clothes, but took longer than he thought and didn't make it back in time, making him not only seem like he was avoiding her, but also late for work.

Now all there was to think about was where do they go from there? It seemed as though he didn't want it to end, whatever "it" was.

---

He seemed sincere, and he had never lied to her before, but stable, work-related relationships were neither of their forte. Not to mention the whole "boss-employee" relationship -though not forbidden, tends to be frown upon by peers, especially when both people have a rather short fuse no matter how well they work together.

---

She thought about going up to his office to talk about it, but he looked busy and she was too tired to have such a conversation that could potentially lead to another night with little sleep, less than she was already doomed to have tonight. Instead, she walked into his office on her way out.

"I'm on my way out, just thought I'd say bye." she said softly.

He smiled "Bye Chloe, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Don't stay too late."

He laughed "I'll try not to... I'll probably be leaving in an hour or so though. Thanks"

"No problem. Take care of yourself, Jack. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

He smiled again "Yep, Night Chlo'"

"Good night." she said, leaving the room.

---

As she walked to her car, she measured out the chances of him actually leaving in an hour, and him actually getting a good nights sleep-both were slim to none.

She knew him well enough to know when he means to want to do something and means to actually do it. Usually happened when it involved himself and taking care of himself, unfortunately.

She shrugged and got into her car and drove home, successfully avoiding her neighbor, Mrs. Leone- who she really could have seen herself punching if she gave her trouble on a day like today.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 –

The next few days went by rather eventless on the relationship front. They were both too preoccupied with work to get time to talk about it. It wasn't actually until Friday that they had time left and got to talk.

"I wasn't avoiding you." Chloe blurted out.

Jack looked up "I never thought you were."

"Good. Cause I wasn't. Work, you know…"

Jack smiled "Yeah, me too."

"You want to talk about it, don't you?" she asked.

"Only if you want to, Chloe."

She rolled her eyes. "Want to come over to my place? So we can talk…"

Jack smiled again "Sure, I'll be right behind you."

"Fine" she said with a half smile, knowing the awkward situation that lay ahead.

Jack laughed it off and left a few seconds after her.

They both parked and Chloe held the door open for Jack before they made their way to the living room.

"Coffee?" she asked nervously.

"A little late for me, thanks though."

"Duh, sorry… beer? I think I have some left from chase stopping by. Other than that, it's tequila or juice." She shrugged

"Yeah, beer is fine." He smiled politely.

"Good, I mean… fine. I'll go get it." She said quickly leaving to the kitchen.

"Good one Chloe." She mumbled to herself. "what a time to care about what people think of you, when you have Jack fucking-Bauer waiting to talk to you…" she rolled her eyes.

She came back in the room with a two beers and handed Jack one as she sat down.

"So, you want to talk?" she asked.

"Only if you want to."

"Stop saying that!" Chloe snapped.

"What? I don't want to talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable, Chloe,"

"Of course it makes me uncomfortable, Jack, but that's not the point…I want to figure things out."

"I do too."

"So we're both agreed on that, now what else?"

"I don't know, I just don't want what we did to ruin our relationship. I was serious when I said I was going crazy without you, Chloe, but what if it didn't work out? I couldn't stand losing you over something like that,"

"So we should just stay friends?" She asked, nervous and kind of dissappointed.

"No...yes. I don't know, somewhere in the middle," he said with a sigh.

"In the middle? ... like friends with benifits?" She asked, still nervous.

Jack shrugged, "Not when you put it like that. I want something, but I... I don't know, Chloe," he sighed, "I always fuck things up when I'm with people, I don't want to hurt you anymore,"

Chloe rolled her eyes, Jack being Jack. Fucker. She sighed, "Jack, listen, we're both shit at relationships and we both like each other, right?" she paused for his nod, which seemed more confused than she wanted, but continued anyway, "We should try your idea. At least see where it goes, I guess,"

"So, what are you saying?" he asked, stupidly, especially since he's the one who suggested it.

"I don't know, maybe hang out sometimes after work and...if that leads to amazing sex, so be it, right?" she asked, blushing slightly.

Jack smiled and almost laughed at how she was still the Chloe he loved...er, liked. "I like that idea. We get to hang out more often at the very least, right?"

Chloe smiled at that, "Yeah, I guess so,"

After that, neither of them knew what to say, if they wanted to do anything right now - which neither of them did, but both thought the other did – so they sat in silence for a few minutes before Jack finished his beer. "Um, it's getting late, I should go," he started.

"Yeah, uh, I'm kind of tired. I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked, stupid question since they worked together.

Jack smiled, "Yeah, see you tomorrow," he said, almost not sounding like himself.

With that, he exited and drove off. Chloe, not lying about being tired, went to bed not long after he drove off.

A/N: Sorry it's taken so long for me to post, I've been busy with school. Not sure when I'll get the next one up, but I'll try to keep it going. Hope you like it.


End file.
